1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a knee side face restraint airbag device.
2. Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2003-327073 discloses technology relating to a vehicle occupant protection device that aims to precisely determine the collision type in the event of a vehicle collision and restrain an occupant in an optimum state according to the collision type. In this technology, a thigh support, shin support and foot support that act as supports to restrain sideways motion of an occupant during an oblique collision, are formed as projection portions to a door trim so as to suppress in-out rotation of the foot (twisting of the ankle).
However, in JP-A No. 2003-327073 the supports are formed to the door trim as projection portions, and sideways motion of the leg is not restrained until the thigh, shin or foot come into contact with the door trim. This means that in practice the knee of the occupant moves towards the vehicle width direction outside by a distance of an initial gap (cabin space) between the knee and the door trim, making twisting of the ankle of the occupant possible.
In consideration of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a knee side face restraint airbag device that can reduce or prevent twisting of the ankle of an occupant in the event of a frontal collision (in particular in the event of a small overlap collision or an oblique collision).